Lighting part 1

About 2 weeks ago we went into Beacon lighting and got a quote written up for some fans as they have a good special on at the moment, saving you 30% off your second fan. The quote is valid for 30 days and today we went back in to check if we were still happy with our choices, which we were and put a deposit on to layby them so we can start paying them off. I also got a pendant for the dressing room that I LOVE!! It's going to be a black and white theme in that room so this will go perfectly. Here is what we have planned:




Fan and light combo to go in Bedrooms 2, 3 and 4



Same fan as above but without the light for the master - we will be having down lights in there



Fan for the alfresco area which will also have downlights, this is an outdoor fan


This is the pendant for the black and white dressing room, it will be like the back one hanging down from the ceiling




Now all we have left to find is something special to go over the dining table, I am thinking a chandelier type thing but haven't seen anything at beacon that really grabs me so I will have to look around, maybe a trip to Melbourne... I also need 3 pendant type things to go over the kitchen bench. Both toiltets will have just a plain type light covering, nothing fancy in there!! But it feels good to have a fair bit picked out and on the way to being paid for.

We also went down to the block for a driveby and so much has happened in the stage that was released before ours, it was great to see and nice to think about what is to come. It looks like it will be a really nice area.

Other than that, we are back to waiting. We are waiting for our bank manager to come back from holidays so that we can sort out our finance - she has handled all of our loans and is fantastic so we want to wait to see her rather than someone else. Once we see the bank we will have a better idea of what is to come and what we can and can't do. Although I am a little worried as we will be paying off a part fixed loan when the house sells so I hope the bank doesn't sting us too hard there. Cross your fingers for me!!

Have a good week end everyone!

Colours are booked!

Not much to report this week, other than being back at work! I think from here until April will be a bit of a waiting game. Oh well, I will just have to fill my time in with shopping for things for the house instead!
We have booked our colour appointment in for Sunday the 14th of Feb which isn't too far away and I am very excited. We have been going through a few displays to get some more photos and inspiration. It's going to be an early morning for a Sunday though but definatly worth it. Cosham have information sessions on a Sunday afternoon so it will be a little quieter in the morning (I hope.)
This weekend will be spend organising things for a garage sale so that we don't have to put too much into storage.
Bring on colours!!

-Variations, electrical and the start of colours

We went down to sign all our paperwork with Henley, put on the next deposit so that when construction on our land finshes we can get the soil tests straight away. We also went through all the variations that we would like to add. These are all dependant on our site costs.

- Add the extended garage with roller door access to the backyard.
- Add the theatre room extension so that it is as long as bedroom 4.
- Add the grand alfresco so that it is still concreted with the theatre extension so that we don't have to deck it asap.
- Add double doors to the study.
- Extend the laundry cupboards from 2 to 3.
- Add drawers to the vanities in the ensuite and bedroom.
- Add render to the pillars at the front (we are having the standard Broadway facade).
- Add carpet and timber laminate.
- Add flysreens to windows.


We also did our electircal there and then as I had spent so much time pouring over it that I knew exactly what we wanted. We have added quite a few down lights and also we will be putting fans in all of the bedrooms and the alfresco. V emailed me the price that night and I was very pleased as it came in under budget.


From Point Cook we decided to go and have a look at Cosham as we were part way there. Wow is all I can say! So many things to look at. We sort of drifted around to start with, not sure where to start until we had D (I think) come over and give us a hand. She threw together our external colours and kitchen within minutes and it was exactly what we liked. I hope we get here when we have our colour appointment. We haven't locked anything in as of yet, this was more a visit to get a feel of the place and see what they had to offer. I must say though, I was impressed with their catergory one. I was having nightmares about upgrading everything and blowing the budget, so I was pleasantly suprised. Here a just a few pics of what we have in mind.


External colours:

Kitchen Colours:

-Selling our first home

Now that we had committed ourselves to a block and finally found the home we wanted to build, it was time to put our house on the market. Our real estate was fantastic, they put the house on the internet on Thursday night, we had people though on the Saturday, we got our first (and last) offer on Monday at more than we ever dreamed we would get!! Very happy day. It also meant that we didn't have to worry about open houses, driving around with the dogs while people were at the house, etc.

We had to wait just under two weeks to find out if their finance was approved and I think that this was one of the hardest parts as we didn't want to do anything in case it fell through. Did I tell you I hate waiting!!

On Friday we found out that it has all gone through, the house was sold! I think it must be some kind of record! We booked an appointment to go and see V at Henley again for the next day!

-Choosing a house to build

I won't tell you how many display homes we have been to, how many builders we have done quotes with, how many hours I have spent thinking about it all!!

We decided to go to Point Cook to look at Henley and Carlilse as they don't have displays here. Carlilse was closed for the Chrissy break (plus found out later that they don't build where our block is) and as soon as we walked into the 'Henley Street' I new this was it. I really liked all of their single story plans, thought their prices were great and the inclusions were fantastic. I had a list of things that I took to each builder with the things I really wanted included and the only ones that Henley didn't do were main flooring and concrete. I was really impressed.

I fell in love with the Lexington when we went through it as it had everything we hoped for. Large master with large ensuite and even larger dressing - check, 4 bedrooms - check, seperate study - check, theatre room - check, alfresco - check. We decided to go with the Q2 as it was a little cheaper ;) and also we got the butlers pantry and alfresco area.

We went back the next day, sat down with V and got a quote. We were very happy with it. We paid a deposit before they closed for Christmas which locked us in for the 2009 prices. I then had display home withdrawals as everyone was closed over Christmas and New Year!!

Standard Lexington Q2:

-Finding a block

After walking through our first set of display homes, we were stunned. They were all so beautifully done and spacious. After renovating, the thought of being able to choose everything the way that we wanted and to start with a blank canvas, we decided that building was for us!

Now we just had to find some land. I thought this would be the easy part, hmm. With the large first home builders grant, everything had been snapped up. We started looking at one part of town that was just too hilly. Our site costs would have been huge. We then started looking at the Valley Estate, which is a new estate but the only blocks available backed on to the railway which we didn't want. We went for a drive up there one night and noticed that one of the blocks didn't have a Sold sticker on it. We called the real estate who said that there was a hold on it that finished tomorrow. If they didn't get the deposit tomorrow, then it would be back on the market. We crossed our fingers all night, called them the next day, paid a deposit and there you go!

The block is 758m2 with an 18m front and looks onto a reserve which is nice as there will never be anything built there. At this time it was just dirt, and is being worked on at the moment. Hopefully the contruction will be finished by the end of Feb and settlement is set for April. Whoo hoo!!

Our dirt:

-Our first house

Welcome all to my first blog! I'm looking forward to being able to being able to track our build and share with others as I have picked up so much from other peoples blogs and threads along the way.

My partner Kris and I brought our first home in May 2008, it was an OLD house that needed much love and work. We have loved living here but there is still a bit of work to go, and we just felt that it was time to move on. Here's a few before and afters, all taken from realestate.com, when we brought the house and when we sold it.

Bathroom:

Kitchen: